Foreign Workers Hired under Letters of Consent and other Foreign Internship Programmes

Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for Manpower from 2003 to 2013, how many foreign workers are employed (i) under Letters of Consent to work in Singapore; and (ii) by private institutions under foreign internship programmes.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: As at December 2013, there were 9,700 Letter of Consent (LOC) foreign workers and they made up less than 1% of our total foreign workforce, excluding Foreign Domestic Workers. This percentage has remained fairly constant over the years.

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Foreign interns are usually brought in under the Training Employment Pass. We have tightened the scheme in recent years to prevent firms from relying on "interns" on a permanent or ongoing basis and to expand internship opportunities for Singaporeans. This has brought down the TEP intern numbers significantly, from a peak of 4,100 in 2010 to 1,200 in 2013.